A church in Florida has a brutal warning to all who enter who may wish to do harm – “We are heavily armed, and any attempt will be dealt with deadly force.”

HELL YEAH! CAN I GET AN AMEN?!?

“Welcome to The River at Tampa Bay Church — right of admission reserved — this is private property,” it reads. “Please know this is not a gun free zone — we are heavily armed — any attempt will be dealt with deadly force — yes we are a church and will protect our people.” The message is signed “The Pastors.”

The River at Tampa Bay Church regularly broadcasts its services live on social media worldwide from their made-for-TV sanctuary that seats over 1,000. When they saw images of the massacre at the church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, they posted a photo of their sign, which had been up for over a year, FOX 13 Tampa reports.

“If you think you are going to come here and do that, this is a deterrent for you because it is everywhere, it’s not like we hide these signs. They’re big signs, and it’s going to tell these people, we will protect our people,” Pastor Hawes continued.

Associate Pastor Allen Hawes told FOX 13 Tampa the sign has been up for over a year at the non-denominational church, but garnered attention after Senior Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne posted it on his Instagram account.

A post shared by drrmhb (@rodneyhowardbrowne) on Nov 7, 2017 at 12:56am PST

Hawes has his own concealed-carry weapons permit, and said those armed during services that draw over 1,000 could include parishioners with concealed-carry permits, private plainclothes guards, or uniformed deputies hired for security, Fox News reports.

“If you think you are going to come here and do that, this is a deterrent for you because it is everywhere, it’s not like we hide these signs,” Hawes said. “They’re big signs, and it’s going to tell these people, we will protect our people.”

The associate pastor said church leaders are fulfilling a biblical teaching to look after those in their care.

“I believe, if you look at the teachings of Jesus, Matthew, and different places in the scriptures, we see it will get increasingly darker, wars, rumors of wars, and people with not good intentions are going to look for a way to make a statement,” he told FOX 13.

“Would I rather ruffle a few feathers, or do I want to count bodies?” Hawes said.

Church not a gun free zone

This pastor says bring your bible, and your gun to Sunday service. The River at Tampa Bay Church posted a sign on its door saying it’s NOT a gun free zone. It says the congregation is heavily armed, and any threat will face deadly force. Would you feel safe and comfortable in this pastor’s congregation?